De-T'Poling and Comfort
by Lunabeegood
Summary: The episode Damages had some interesting things I could work with. Everything is Trip & T'Pol based in all my Enterprise writing. If you want to see the development of their relationship to this point you need to read earlier episode inserts as well. I'm exploring their relationship between Harbinger and Terra Prime.


**Author's Note: So Damage doesn't give me a lot to work with but I thought about T'Pol's shaking hand and her dream and…well, you get the picture. Paramount owns Star Trek: Enterprise and I just do this for fun, not profit. Please review!**

XXX

Her hand shook slightly as she reached for the comm panel outside of his quarters. The Trellieum-D she'd just injected into her system still hadn't taken complete effect. T'Pol considered alerting him of her presence but decided the less time she stood in the hallway, the less likely she would to get caught.

She entered his code and walked inside. His shower was running and she froze in place; it was her dream coming to fruition. She froze in place and couldn't move her feet.

"Hello? Someone there?" Trip called from inside the washroom, the door was open and steam was wafting into his cabin.

T'Pol tried to will her body to just leave, but it wouldn't listen to her. When she looked down at her hands, they were still shaking.

"T'Pol?" Trip asked as he poked his head out of the washroom; the shower was still running and he'd just stepped out of it.

"I should leave," she said as she looked at his wet face and shoulders, the rest of his body was hidden behind the wall.

"You look pretty dirty yourself," he said with a raised eyebrow. "I'm almost done, but you could join me if you like; water conservation…and all that."

T'Pol looked at him alarmed and he suddenly sensed everything wasn't as it should be.

"T'Pol?" He asked as he stepped out of the washroom and walked toward her unabashedly naked.

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have come," T'Pol said as he stopped a foot in front of her.

"You're pretty shaken up," Trip observed as he took her hands in his.

"I…" T'Pol started and then closed her eyes.

"Let me turn off the shower and put on some clothes," Trip said as he stepped away from her and walked back towards the washroom.

"Trip, it's the middle of the…" she started as she opened her eyes and looked at the water on his floor forming a path to and from his washroom.

"Just stay right there," he called out to her as she heard the shower quickly shut off and watched his towel clad body walk to his drawers and pull on some sweat pants, foregoing the underwear.

"I think my shower is the only one working in this section, so I was going to offer it to anyone who needed one," Trip said as he walked toward her.

"That's very nice of you," T'Pol noted.

"It's not really," Trip grinned. "Have you ever worked with a bunch of engineers covered in sweat, injection fluid and oil? It's getting mighty ripe down there. I'm only stopping in for a quick shower before I'm headed back."

"Shouldn't you rest?" T'Pol asked.

"I don't have time to rest," Trip said exhausted. "The only reason I'm here is because I had some Hens fluid that I needed to wash off."

"Oh," she said softly.

"Why are you here?" Trip asked her as he gestured for her to sit on his bed.

"I thought you may be resting and I sought…company," T'Pol explained as she sat down.

"Well we're both not in any shape to…" Trip said to her confused as he sat down next to her.

"No, I just wanted to sleep next to you," T'Pol explained. "It brings me comfort."

"It does the same for me," Trip admitted. "But I sense…I sense there's more going on with you."

T'Pol looked anywhere but at him and said nothing for a long time.

"T'Pol…" Trip prompted.

"We thought we lost the Captain, the ship is in ruins under my command, and…"

"And he's back, and we're still flying," Trip reminded her as he placed a hand on her knee.

She placed a hand on top of his and sighed.

They sat for a long time with their eyes closed just quietly taking comfort in each other.

"You have to go back to engineering," T'Pol said softly as she took her hand off his and sat up a little straighter.

"And you have to get back to the Bridge," Trip sighed.

He stood from his spot on the bed and walked toward his closet. "And I'm sure I'm expected to be in a uniform, even if it's not exactly clean."

"I'll leave you to change," T'Pol said as she stood and started to walk past him.

He quickly grabbed her arm as she passed and pulled her against him in a comforting hug. She rested her head against his chest and sighed. This was exactly what she needed right now.

Moments later they released each other and she quietly left his quarters so he could change.

XXXXX

"That was nice having a shower," Hess said to him as she walked up to the control panel he was working on. "Thanks, Commander."

"Everyone else cycling through now?" Trip asked as he pulled at a loose injector coil and judged whether it could be left for the time being.

"Yes, I was about halfway through the engineers and the water is still flowing," Hess said as she shifted her feet and looked anywhere but at him. "I, uh, hope it was okay that I put a couple of things in a drawer out of the way."

"Huh?" Trip asked, still focused on the coil.

"There were a couple of things in the washroom that I thought you may not want everyone to…notice," Hess said quietly, her voice barely a whisper. "Unfortunately, about 6 engineering crew members showered before I did."

"Hess, what are you talking about?" Trip asked, confused as he finally looked at her.

"There was a women's silk robe hanging on the hook and some lotion with Vulcan writing on it," Hess said embarrassed as she looked carefully at her Commanding Officer.

Trip swallowed hard, he hadn't thought to de-T'Pol his quarters before he gave his department access to them. There was also clean uniform of hers hanging in his closet in case they got called to their stations while she was over.

There had only been a few sexual encounters since movie night, more often then naught they just slept, but there was a permanency about their relationship that he hadn't felt before. And he knew she felt it too by her leaving things in his quarters and suggesting he did the same.

"Commander T'Pol had a shower before I invited Engineering to start rotating in," he lied. "She must have forgotten some things. I'll make sure she gets them back. But I appreciate you trying to protect both our reputations. But there's nothing to protect, Lieutenant Hess."

"Of course, sir," Lieutenant Hess nodded, knowing that the conversation was over. "I placed those things in the second drawer down with your clothing."

"Thank you," Trip nodded and then reached down to pack up his tool kit. "Anything else?"

Lieutenant Hess decided that it was probably not the right time to inform him that Commander T'Pol was in the shower right now and had not, as the Commander had reported, already showered. There had been many rumors about the two Commanders, but this finally confirmed it. Hess would never share the information with others and doubted the men who showered before her even noticed what she had; men never did. But if anyone made comment, she would make sure to shut them down.

"No Commander," Hess nodded before she left her superior officer.

Trip sighed and placed his toolbox out of the way. He needed to get to his quarters and hide her uniform as well.


End file.
